Development Darryl F. Zanuck bought the rights to the novel in November 1944, prior to its publication but after it had been serialized in
Cosmopolitan. The purchase price was $100,000. It was the ninth novel Zanuck had purchased in as many months, the others being
Keys of the Kingdom,
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,
Forever Amber,
Leave Her to Heaven,
Dragonwyck,
Anna and the King of Siam, ''Razor's Edge
and A Bell for Adano''.
Casting Twentieth Century-Fox director-writer-producer
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, consulting with executive producer
Darryl F. Zanuck on the making of
Captain from Castille, recommended a reunion of Tyrone Power and
Linda Darnell for the lead roles of Pedro and Catana. By August 1945, however, Power was announced for the lead and Cornel Wilde was out. Power returned from service as a
Marine Corps aviator during
World War II and was available. Darnell was given the role of Catana, but appeared in two other projects while preparation for production was being completed. In the meantime, Zanuck began filming of
Forever Amber with the inexperienced
Peggy Cummins in the title role, investing $1 million in the project before realizing it had become a disaster. Darnell replaced Cummins to try to save the project, and the role of Catana went to the then unknown
Jean Peters in November 1946. In August 1946,
Lamar Trotti was assigned to write the script and Henry King to direct. The original scripts and storyline included a scene involving one of the novel's major characters and villains, the
Dominican fray/Inquisitor Ignacio de Lora, to be played by British character actor John Burton. De Lora's character conducted the "examination" of the de Vargas family, tortured Juan Garcia's mother, and dispatched the order for Pedro's arrest to Cuba. Citing a December 15, 1947 article in
The New York Times, one source attributes the excision of the scene to
censorship by the Rev. John J. Devlin, a representative of the
National Legion of Decency and advisor to the
Motion Picture Association of America, on the basis that the depiction of the Spanish Inquisition was unacceptable to the Catholic Church. After revision of the script "toned down" depictions of the Inquisition, changing its name from the
Santa Casa (
The Holy Office) to the
Santa Hermandad, eliminating the
auto de fe prominent in the book, and making the lay character of de Silva the chief Inquisitor, the script was acceptable to Devlin. The script, while employing Spanish terminology and names where appropriate, also uses an undisclosed indigenous dialect (likely
Nahuatl) for dialogue involving the Aztecs, with the historical personage
Doña Marina (portrayed by Mexican actress
Estela Inda) providing the translation as she did in real life. Other historically accurate characters portrayed were the
mutineers Juan Escudero (John Laurenz) and Diego Cermeño (
Reed Hadley), and the loyal captains
Pedro de Alvarado (
Roy Roberts) and Gonzalo de Sandoval (Harry Carter).
Shooting Filming began November 25, 1946, and was completed on April 4, 1947. Filming started in Morelia, west of Mexico City. Location filming took place in three locations in Mexico, two in the Mexican state of
Michoacán.
Acapulco provided ocean and beach locations for scenes involving "Villa Rica" (Veracruz). In Michoacán, the hills around
Morelia depicted the countryside of Castile for the first half of the film, while extensive shooting took place near
Uruapan to depict the Mexican interior. There the volcano
Parícutin, which had erupted in 1943 and was still active, was featured in the background of many shots of the Cholulu (
Cholula) sequences. In 1519–1520, the volcano
Popocatépetl, just to the west of Cholula, had also been active while the Cortés expedition was present. The film's final scene, involving the movement of the expedition and its thousands of
Indian porters, was filmed on the edge of Parícutin's lava beds with the
cinder cone prominently nearby in the shot.
Photography In addition to the directors of photography credited onscreen, George E. Clarke and
Arthur E. Arling, Clarke's protégé
Joseph LaShelle also contributed to the filming of
Captain from Castile. While LaShelle was noted for excellent black-and-white photography, particularly in
film noir, he had little experience with
Technicolor or location shooting. Clarke was competent at both. LaShelle's work in the film appears primarily in interior shots, notably in scenes at Pedro's home. Arling was mainly responsible for
second unit filming under assistant director
Robert D. Webb. On location, photography inside the temples proved difficult because of poor space for proper lighting and excessive heat that could degrade color film. ==Music==